"What are you talking about?" Julius sneered. "It's me, your childhood friend, and the Lord you serve."
"No. How do you just wake up one day and decide to be productive? Have you been training in secret? No, that can't be it… your muscles aren't defined enough for that."
"You're overthinking it, Gabriel. Have you forgotten who I am?"
Gabriel's gaze turned toward the large display case lined with trophies and achievements Julius had earned when he was younger.
At that moment, memories rushed back all at once.
In their childhood, Gabriel often found himself envious of Julius. They were born in the same year, of the same age, yet their worlds were leagues apart.
Gabriel was nothing more than the son of a maid, a life predetermined to serve the Schneider family. Julius, on the other hand, was of noble blood, a Schneider, living a life of privilege.
He was brilliant and often excelled in every field he set his mind to. His talent was truly enviable in every sense.
And perhaps that was why Gabriel could not help but pity him.
The prodigious son of House Schneider, the boy who had shone so brightly, had fallen into mediocrity and became the child his family had long since given up on.
"Then are you telling me you've been pretending all this time?"
"Who knows? Probably?"
But that wasn't it. In Julius's eyes, he had simply been an early bloomer. When the rest of his peers caught up, it was only a matter of time before they surpassed him.
The humiliation of that reality was unbearable. No, borderline traumatizing even.
Deprived of the brilliance that once set him apart, he held onto the only thing he had left.
His bloodline.
So long as he carried the name Schneider, he convinced himself of his superiority. It was the last vestige of pride he could hold on to.
It was both his shield and his prison.
"Very well," Gabriel replied, lifting his saber. "And I take it you want me to take this seriously?"
"I'll fire you if you don't."
A wry smile tugged at Gabriel's lips. "Then I suppose I have no choice."
Gabriel adjusted his stance, holding the saber naturally in his hand. The room seemed to grow quieter. Julius mirrored him. His form wasn't sloppy. There were no glaring openings. But to Gabriel's eyes, it lacked refinement.
"Scan," Julius whispered.
[SIBYL]
[Scanning…]
In his peripheral vision, data began to overlay Gabriel's frame. Every faint movement in the muscle was analyzed and broken down. SIBYL processed it all at once, mapping predictive patterns of movement onto Julius's vision.
The projections moved with every breath Gabriel took into potential actions and outcomes, but never so much that Julius felt overwhelmed.
This was the true strength of SIBYL, an AI chip implanted into the minds of every knight and military personnel in the era he had returned from.
Julius tightened his grip on the saber, the corners of his lips curving slightly.
"Come—"
The word had barely left his lips when SIBYL flared to life, overhauling in a fraction of a second. Gabriel's face suddenly closed in as the distance collapsed in an instant.
Julius reacted at once. His saber ignited as he raised it to intercept.
Crackle——
The two blades of light clashed as sparks of energy scattered from the impact.
Gabriel froze mid-push, his eyes widening. "You actually blocked that…"
"Stop acting surprised!" Julius twisted his saber and brought it down in a blinding arc.
Before the strike could land, Gabriel drove his foot into Julius's abdomen, forcing him back with a kick.
"I can't help it," Gabriel said, steadying his stance. "It's just too… strange."
Julius staggered back a few steps, clutching his abdomen. The pain was jarring. This body was still far too weak before it could even begin to measure up to the physique he once had before regression.
"Is it? Are you surprised at how talented I am?"
But there was no talent involved. It was nothing more than a difference in experience from another life, aided by the help of SIBYL.
But Gabriel didn't need to know that.
"Yes, yes."
Once more, Gabriel's saber flashed as their blades crackled with each clash. The room filled with the hiss and fizz of colliding energy. Blow after blow rained down, and Julius felt his arm beginning to ache.
Gabriel was simply too fast.
Bang——
In the end, Julius found himself sprawled on the ground while struggling to breathe.
It was expected. His body was still unaccustomed to such strenuous movements. Against Gabriel, who had honed his blade since childhood, no regression could bridge that gap so easily.
Especially when Julius himself had been, in a sense, hard reset.
Gabriel exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "…I've been meaning to say this, but you fight really dirty. Have you never heard of a knight's honor?"
"….Honor doesn't matter if you're dead. On the battlefield, you do whatever it takes to survive."
Gabriel raised a brow. "And what do you know about the battlefield?"
"I don't. But the line sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"
"…Damn right it does."
Gabriel's eyes ran up and down Julius. The seriousness of his stare made Julius shift uncomfortably, and by instinct, he hugged his upper body as if covering himself.
"Why are you eyeing my body like that? That's creepy as hell."
Gabriel ignored the remark. "You move like someone who isn't used to his own body. Your swing is fast, and there's no doubt you've got technique. But your footwork contradicts everything else."
Julius raised a brow. "Contradicts?"
"You step in when you should pivot. You pivot when you should brace. It's as if your body doesn't know what your mind is telling it to do."
"Is that so?"
"Do what you want with that information," Gabriel said as he deactivated his saber. "I've got a shift today. See you later."
As Julius watched him without even bothering to stand back up, he thought back on the brief spar. Gabriel had seen through him so easily and managed to break down every flaw in a matter of moments.
But still…
"I told you not to hold back."
Gabriel paused at the doorway. "Did I? Who knows."
With a casual wave, Gabriel left the room. Just beyond the door, he stopped and stared at his calloused palm.
"…How laughable," he murmured.
Julius, who had never once taken up a sword, had still managed to keep pace, at least to a degree. From technique to timing, even his guard transitions, it was all there as if he'd trained for years.
However, the flaw lay in execution. The fundamentals and theory were solid, but his body simply couldn't keep up.
"This must be the difference in lineage…"
Something Gabriel had never been blessed with.